Can we have an honest discussion about SKS prices?

[trainsktg]

That's a good deal on those M59s too. Even the $300 Romanians that popped up a few weeks ago at Aimsurplus were gone in a day or two.

Keith

 

[shoggoth80]

I see them run a range of prices. I have seen them in the mid $200s for nice guns, and just sub $300 for unusual, and otherwise excellent guns (I think AIM just got some Albanian SKS rifles in). I have seen higher prices being asked... but I also don't see any moving. I remember after big O got elected, prices with some online retailers shot up over $600, and they sold out. Then again, everyone was in a panic. The days of getting $70 surplus guns are over...unless you are dealing with Mosins...and even then... most of the time they are $90-100.

 

[jordanvraptor]

Do they sell SKS's at The Gun Room?

 

[EMP9596]

Do they sell SKS's at The Gun Room?

Give them a call, and be sure and ask for 'W'.

 

[novamind]

A cheap chinese sks of the early 1990's, shooting surplus ammo at less than two cents a round was fun. While the differances in quality of sks rifles varies, I find the yugo to be pretty nice. A person can sort of get "price fixed" due to thier age sometimes. The law of supply and demand still rules.

 

[cetme]

gunbroker in clackamas has a couple for aruond 200.00

 

[soberups]

I've seen it many times....

A guy wants a hi-cap 7.62x39 and he doesnt have enough money for an AK. So he spends $150-$200 less, and buys a Yugo 59/66 SKS instead. He takes it to the range and has fun with it, but he reeeally wishes it had a 30-rd detachable mag.

So a couple of paychecks later, he spends another $100 on a 30-rd duckbill and a cheap scope/scope-mount combo for the receiver cover. And maybe he drops another $50 on an ATI plastic folding stock with a pistol grip.

So he bolts it all together and takes his wannabe-AK out to the range....where he discovers that (a) the duckbill mag jams every 3 rounds and cant be inserted when the bolt is closed, (b) the receiver-mounted POS scope wont hold zero and has to be removed for cleaning, and (c) the folding pistol-grip stock is awkward to use because the Yugo is way too long and nose heavy with that grenade launcher/sight and bayonet out in front. And to top it off, he gets on the Internet and discovers that his rifle is now illegal due to issues with federal 922R compliance.

So he decides to try and sell his $300 Yugo with its $150 worth of "accessories" for what he has into it, in order to get the $450 he needs to buy the AK he should have bought in the first place. A quick scan thru Gunbroker.com will show many SKS's that have been "bubba'd" in such a manner, and many owners that will never recover the money that they have put into the guns.

The moral of the story? If you want an AK, buy an AK. And if you own an SKS, leave it in its original configuration. It is a fine rifle with many positive attributes in its own right. Dont try and make it into something that it was never intended to be.

 

[EMP9596]

I've seen it many times....

So he decides to try and sell his $300 Yugo with its $150 worth of "accessories" for what he has into it, in order to get the $450 he needs to buy the AK he should have bought in the first place. A quick scan thru Gunbroker.com will show many SKS's that have been "bubba'd" in such a manner, and many owners that will never recover the money that they have put into the guns.

The moral of the story? If you want an AK, buy an AK. And if you own an SKS, leave it in its original configuration. It is a fine rifle with many positive attributes in its own right. Dont try and make it into something that it was never intended to be.

Spot on soberups.

I wish some times I still had some of the military arms I had forty years ago. If you find a straight up authenic SKS or AK don't alter it as it just ruins the value. I am altering one of theses Yugo SKS's but in a way it can be restored to it's original condition as I plan on keeping it and the other goes in the collection. Not to long ago I picked up a non import marked 6.5x55 1917 Carl Gustafs Swedish Mauser carbine all matching numbers with a beautyful action for a small price, BUT! Someone had taken the original furniture off it and sporterized it and made a $1000 rifle into a $150 rifle. Now surplus replacement wood for it would run 200 to $300 but still not return the rifle to it's real value as the serial on the wood would not match the rest of the numbers. Certain firearms that you can stumble upon are better than bank intrest or any retirement fund if brought right.

It pays to educate ones self sometimes before altering a firearm.

just say'n

 

[trainsktg]

Agreed. The best way to ruin the value of a military semi-auto or bolt action is to strip, sand and refinish the stock, sporterize the stock or drill the receiver for a scope. About the only valid reason to install a polymer type stock on an SKS would be to preserve the original stock for future resale purposes.

An SKS is what it is, and in reality its a damn fine general-purpose weapon. I wouldn't want to go up against a trained soldier armed with one.

Keith

 

[EMP9596]

Agreed. The best way to ruin the value of a military semi-auto or bolt action is to strip, sand and refinish the stock, sporterize the stock or drill the receiver for a scope.

An SKS is what it is, and in reality its a damn fine general-purpose weapon. I wouldn't want to go up against a trained soldier armed with one.

Keith

I have been on the recieving end myself and have a high reguard for them.

Here are some fotos of one with ten rounds ran through it. One -hunderd yards and all in the bull. Thought did well with the front sight blurry through these old eyes.

Why alter something like this????

View attachment 199615

View attachment 199616

View attachment 199617

View attachment 199618

And here is where they come from......

View attachment 199619

 

[trainsktg]

And here is where they come from......

I surrender!

Keith

 

[desmocorse996]

...So he decides to try and sell his $300 Yugo with its $150 worth of "accessories" for what he has into it, in order to get the $450 he needs to buy the AK he should have bought in the first place. A quick scan thru Gunbroker.com will show many SKS's that have been "bubba'd" in such a manner, and many owners that will never recover the money that they have put into the guns.

The moral of the story? If you want an AK, buy an AK. And if you own an SKS, leave it in its original configuration. It is a fine rifle with many positive attributes in its own right. Dont try and make it into something that it was never intended to be.

Finally, someone says it like it is... THANK YOU!

 

[MrNiceGuy]

the sks can be a GREAT platform for a hobbiest to modify.







My favorite. The 45acp SKS that takes glock mags


I own 3 unmodified sks rifles... they're just so so so boring.

 

[trainsktg]

Oh certainly they can look good, and the ones you posted do. But when it comes time to sell them, just don't expect very many folks to pay what it took to get them that way.

Keith

 

[MrNiceGuy]

Oh certainly they can look good, and the ones you posted do. But when it comes time to sell them, just don't expect very many folks to pay what it took to get them that way.

Keith

That's just a base rule..... for practically everything.

You think it's a problem with guns.... I know someone who is trying to sell his 1998 honda civic for $35,000... because that's how much he's spent in modifications over the years.

 

[boxer13]

That's just a base rule..... for practically everything.

You think it's a problem with guns.... I know someone who is trying to sell his 1998 honda civic for $35,000... because that's how much he's spent in modifications over the years.

Very true, value is in the eye of the beholder.plus why go through so much effort to upgrade/mod it to get rid of it? Seems like such a waste.

 

[jimwsea]

Attention Gun-Mart shoppers.

There's an SKS for sale on Outdoors Trader...$1,400.00

SKS Norinko - Firearms : Rifles

 

[Decker]

Attention Gun-Mart shoppers.

There's an SKS for sale on Outdoors Trader...$1,400.00

SKS Norinko - Firearms : Rifles

 

[WhyteCheddar]

I cant help but think that there is going to be the occasional buyer who wont mind paying a small premium over retail for a private party transaction.
But this is nothing new. Same thing happens with a wide variety of items right here on this site. I've seen some cars and other things priced unbelievably high. It could be that the sellers really don't want to sell it all that badly.

 

[darkminstrel]

If you want an intermediate-caliber semi-auto with a mag capacity greater than 10, a pistol grip, and some provision for mounting optics, all without breaking the bank... just get yourself an AK. The costs are gonna be about the same.

^
This.

You have no idea how many times I've had to say just such a thing to people. The SKS is a fine weapon, historical, fun to shoot, reliable with care and new parts. But it's not an AK.